Tom Wilson lived up to his reputation on Sunday.
The Capitals enforcer earned the scorn of Rangers fans for two perceived dirty hits on Mika Zibanejad during the Rangers’ 4-1 win in Game 1 of their first-round series at Madison Square Garden.
The first hit came in the second period with the Rangers ahead, 3-1, and Washington on the power play.
A wide shot by Chris Kreider put the puck behind Washington’s goal and Zibanejad hit the puck back toward the net, where Capitals defenseman John Carlson gained control.
As Zibanejad stood near the boards, Wilson came in and dropped him with a vicious hit.
“Zibanejad got decked, the crowd wants a call but will not (get it),” TBS’ Sean McDonough said.
The second questionable hit came in the second period with the Rangers still leading by two goals.
As the teams jostled for control of the puck near center ice, Wilson checked Zibanejad and sent him to the ice after the puck had already been sent in a different direction.
Zibanejad seemingly did not anticipate the contact as he veered toward Wilson’s direction after the hit dropped him backward.
The two other Capitals players in the area had already separated themselves from Zibanejad’s space before Wilson delivered the blow.
Wilson and Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider later instigated a scuffle and threw punches at each other with one minute remaining in the third period and the Rangers now leading, 4-1.
Both players, along with Washington’s Dylan McIlrath, earned misconducts.
The Rangers and Wilson have a long history, with a 2021 incident at the forefront of the bad blood when the Rangers accused him of a “horrifying act of violence” for punching Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head and later injuring Artemi Panarin.
The NHL did not suspend Wilson and the Rangers released a statement calling for NHL head of player safety George Parris to be removed from his role.
“We view this as a dereliction of duty by NHL head of player safety, George Parros, and believe he is unfit to continue in his current role,” the statement said.
Game 2 is set for Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at MSG.
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This article was originally published by a nypost.com . Read the Original article here. .